Beseech, accuse, correct, rebuke and fear not

Spirituality

Pope Pius VI, Inscrutabile (#8), Dec. 25, 1775: “The holy Pope Leo used to say, ‘We can rule those entrusted to us only by pursuing with zeal for the Lord’s faith those who destroy and those who are destroyed and by cutting them off from sound minds with the utmost severity to prevent the plague from spreading.’  In doing this We exhort and advise you to be all of one mind and in harmony as you strive for the same object, just as the Church has one faith, one baptism, and one spirit…  Beseech, accuse, correct, rebuke and fear not: for ill-judged silence leaves in their error those who could be taught, and this is most harmful both to them and to you who should have dispelled the error.  The holy Church is powerfully refreshed in the truth as it struggles zealously for the truth.  In this divine work you should not fear either the force or favor of your enemies… Often imprudent guides in their fear of losing human favor are afraid to speak the right thing freely.  As the word of truth has it, they guard their flock not with a shepherd’s zeal but as hirelings do, since they flee when the wolf approaches by hiding themselves in silence.”